Tiffany & Co. Unveils the 'Tiffany Eternity' Enamel Clematis Watch, Celebrating a Legacy of Craftsmanship and Design

The 'Tiffany Eternity' Enamel Clematis Watch

Tiffany & Co. unveils the 'Tiffany Eternity' Enamel Clematis Watch, a timepiece beautifully elevated to the status of a work of art. Merging exceptional enamel craftsmanship with the brand’s unparalleled expertise in gemstones, this creation embodies Tiffany’s legacy of craftsmanship and design. The vibrant dial, where delicate clematis blossoms painted in enamel intertwine with diamonds, harmonizes beautifully with the shimmering aquamarines adorning the bezel and the snow-set diamonds gracing the sides of the 18K white gold case.

Tiffany’s watchmaking is rooted in the brand’s inherited excellence in design, craftsmanship, and rich creativity. For the design of the 'Tiffany Eternity' Enamel Clematis Watch, Tiffany’s designers drew inspiration from the exquisite lamps crafted in the early 20th century at the Tiffany Studios in New York. Characterized by their rich colors and intricate patterns, these lamps feature colored glass pieces, meticulously cut and joined with copper foil or lead, often depicting floral and insect motifs. Celebrated as quintessential Art Nouveau designs, surviving pieces are widely recognized as rare and iconic design artifacts of their era. The Tiffany Studios was established in New York in 1902 by Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of Tiffany founder Charles Lewis Tiffany and the brand’s first art director.

The 'Clematis' hanging shade, created around 1906, beautifully highlights a delicate motif of white and green blossoms against a soft green and blue background. Drawing from this motif, the watch’s dial features six clematis flowers rendered in plique-à-jour enamel, adorned in hues of aquamarine and turquoise. Behind the translucent petals, the brilliance of snow-set diamonds emerges beautifully. To complete the design, floral motifs in varying shades of blue, crafted using champlevé enamel, are delicately scattered across the entire dial as if dancing in the wind.

Creating the floral motifs with champlevé enamel demands extremely high technical skill and meticulous handwork. First, enamel artisans individually craft approximately 60 tiny components from white gold, each precisely tailored to the final design. Some pieces are as small as 0.45 millimeters, requiring precision craftsmanship with zero tolerance for error. Next, the interior of each component is carefully engraved, leaving a delicate white gold frame along the edges. Into these recesses, vividly colored enamel is applied by hand, layer by layer, with repeated firings for each layer, until the surface is perfectly flush with the gold outline. Finally, meticulous hand polishing produces a smooth, cabochon-like texture, enhancing the three-dimensionality and creating a beautiful contrast with the sparkling diamonds.

The plique-à-jour enamel used for the clematis blossoms is an extremely advanced and labor-intensive technique mastered by only a select few artisans. Its origins trace back to the 6th-century Byzantine Empire, where light passing through the vivid colors creates a stained-glass-like, ethereal glow. Among enamel techniques, this method demands exceptional skill, as translucent, richly colored enamel is applied within a delicate metal framework without a backing material, resulting in a lightweight and deeply dimensional appearance. Plique-à-jour enamel was highly prized during the Art Nouveau period, and Tiffany’s artisans frequently employed this complex technique in early 20th-century jewelry designs.

The creation of the clematis blossoms using plique-à-jour enamel begins with shaping the outline using fine 18K white gold wire. Artisans then carefully apply enamel layer by layer within the frame, firing repeatedly at each stage. Firing temperatures are gradually increased, transforming the enamel into a glass-like substance, achieving ideal depth of color, transparency, and a smooth surface perfectly flush with the wire. Once completed, the clematis blossoms are delicately mounted onto the diamond-adorned dial.

The production of the 'Tiffany Eternity' Enamel Clematis Watch requires advanced techniques, including the use of two enamel colors for the clematis flowers and four distinct shades of blue for the stylized floral motifs. Each color requires different firing temperatures and cycles, necessitating extremely precise process control. By precisely combining different techniques and positioning all components with micron-level accuracy, this exceptional creation comes to life.

The fabrication, setting, and assembly of all components forming the dial require over 100 hours in total. Approximately 30 hours are dedicated to snow-setting 432 diamonds, and an additional 55 hours are spent on the enamel decoration and assembly of the dial.

Symbolizing Tiffany’s renowned expertise in gemstones, the bezel surrounding the dial is set with 36 baguette-cut aquamarines totaling approximately 5 carats. The crown is adorned with a full-cut round diamond, emblematic of the Tiffany® Setting, while snow-set diamonds cover the entire side of the 36mm 18K white gold case. The timepiece is powered by a Swiss-made LTM automatic mechanical movement and paired with a lustrous dark blue alligator strap, featuring a diamond-set 18K white gold T buckle.

Product Information

'Tiffany Eternity' Enamel Clematis Watch

- Case diameter: 36 mm - Functions: Hours and minutes - Material: 18K white gold - Dial: Clematis flowers in plique-à-jour enamel, floral motifs in champlevé enamel, snow-set diamonds - Total diamonds used in the watch: 904 stones (totaling 3.28 carats) - Dial: 432 diamonds (totaling 0.87 carats) - Case: 461 diamonds (totaling 1.9 carats) - T buckle: 10 diamonds - Crown: 1 diamond (0.47 carats) - Aquamarine: 36 baguette-cut aquamarines on the bezel (totaling approximately 5 carats) - Strap: Navy alligator - Movement: LTM automatic mechanical movement - Power reserve: Approximately 38 hours - Warranty: 5-year international warranty - Swiss made